Bangkok: PepsiCo Inc and a Thai affiliate have taken control of Thai bottler Serm Suk Pcl in an expansion drive in Asia’s third-largest bottled beverage market after China and India.

The maker of Diet Pepsi, Sierra Mist and Tropicana juice, and its partner Strategic Beverages (Thailand) Co Ltd, now own 50.1% of Serm Suk after buying 658 million baht ($20 million) in a tender offer launched 30 April.

They bought 22.7 million shares, or 8.54%, at 29 baht ($0.89) each, Strategic Beverages said in a statement.

PepsiCo and its partner had already owned 41.54% of Serm Suk with the rest held by Thai investors. The tender offer period ends on 10 June.

Strategic Beverages said its 29 baht offer was near a 10-year high in the stock, but the price was 26-30% below the 39.3-41.9 baht fair value estimated by an independent financial adviser, according to a filing by Serm Suk to the stock exchange.

Strategic Beverages, a joint venture between PepsiCo and senior Thai management of Pepsi-Cola (Thai) Trading, has offered to buy all of remaining 155.44 million shares, or 58.46% of Serm Suk in a deal that could shake up and intensify the local beverage market.

Serm Suk stock, valued at $284 million on the Thai bourse, surged 123% in the last three months on expectation that PepsiCo might raise the offer price after the adviser estimated Serm Suk’s fair value of 39 baht.